Box Office: ‘Jumanji’ Tops ‘Insidious 4,’ ‘The Last Jedi’ With $35 Million

Sony Pictures’ “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” is set to score big over “Insidious: The Last Key” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” at the domestic box office with $35 million at 3,801 locations.

The fourth installment of the “Insidious” franchise will battle it out with Disney-Lucasfilm’s “The Last Jedi” for second place during its opening weekend, with “The Last Key” set to reel in nearly $26 million from 3,116 North American locations and “The Last Jedi” to take in about $24 million from 4,232 sites.

“Jumanji’s” take this weekend should push it to around $241 million domestically, having earned over $200 million in foreign markets. “The Last Jedi’s” addition will yield a domestic gross of around $573 million, leaving it the sixth-highest domestic grosser of all time, below Marvel’s “The Avengers” with $623 million. “The Last Jedi” had won the previous three weekends, including scoring the second-largest opening of all time with $220 million Dec. 15-17.

Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan star in “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” a sequel to the 1995 film starring Robin Williams. In the new installment, the actors play video game characters whose bodies four teenagers wind up inhabiting after dropping into the jungle game. Though the film received less than stellar reviews, audiences have responded well the comedy.

“Insidious: The Last Key” earned around $12 million in Friday previews, from 2,220 North American locations, including $2 million from Thursday night showings. The horror film is performing above recent projections, which pinned it at around $16 to $19 million.

Lin Shaye, who has starred in all three films, returns in “Insidious: The Last Key” as a parapsychologist whose haunted childhood comes to threaten her family and home in a follow-up to the events in “Insidious: Chapter 3.”

The film is the latest horror title from Blumhouse Productions, which delivered low-cost horror hits last year for Universal with “Split,” “Get Out,” and “Happy Death Day,” and was produced in conjunction with Sony through the studio’s Stage 6 Films. It’s receiving domestic distribution from Universal. The franchise dates back to 2010 with “Insidious,” followed by “Insidious: Chapter 2” in 2013 and “Insidious: Chapter 3” in 2015. The three films have grossed a collective $357 million worldwide.

In fourth place at the box office is Fox’s “The Greatest Showman” with $14 million, a number which will bolster its domestic gross to around $77 million. The Hugh Jackman-starrer also features Zac Efron and Zendaya and tells a musical version of the story of P.T. Barnum, the man behind the famed circus.

Universal’s “Pitch Perfect 3” should land in a comfortable fifth place with about $10 million domestically. The film stars Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Britney Snow, and Anna Camp in their original roles as the women battle it out a Capella-style one last time. The film’s weekend take should boost its domestic cumulative to about $85 million.

Jessica Chastain’s “Molly’s Game” from STXfilms expanded to 1,608 locations this weekend from 271 sites and is set to bring in around $7 million over the weekend for a cumulative $14 million. Chastain received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a drama for her work in the film — whether or not she wins will be determined Sunday. The film also received a Producers Guild Award nomination on Friday for best film, a day after Aaron Sorkin’s script received a Writers Guild nom for adapted screenplay.

Steven Spielberg’s “The Post,” which also received a PGA nomination on Friday, is expected to continue its strong performance with an estimated $1.5 million this weekend after expanding to 36 locations Friday, up from nine. The film will finish the weekend with almost $4 million since its Dec. 22 release, and will go wide on Jan. 12.

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